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All the things got more expensive

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:24 am
by bignflnut
The Supreme Court says states can force online shoppers to pay sales tax.

The 5-4 ruling Thursday is a win for states, who said they were losing out on billions of dollars annually under two decades-old Supreme Court decisions that impacted online sales tax collection.

The high court ruled Thursday to overturn those decisions. They had resulted in some companies not collecting sales tax on every online purchase. The cases the court overturned said that if a business was shipping a product to a state where it didn’t have a physical presence such as a warehouse or office, the business didn’t have to collect the state’s sales tax. Customers were generally supposed to pay the tax to the state themselves if they don’t get charged it, but the vast majority didn’t.

SNIP

The case the court ruled in has to do with a law passed by South Dakota in 2016. South Dakota’s governor has said his state loses out on an estimated $50 million a year in sales tax that doesn’t get collected by out-of-state sellers. Lawmakers in the state, which has no income tax, passed a law designed to directly challenge the Supreme Court’s 1992 decision. The law required out-of-state sellers who do more than $100,000 of business in the state or more than 200 transactions annually with state residents to collect sales tax and turn it over to the state.

South Dakota wanted out-of-state retailers to begin collecting the tax and sued several of them: Overstock.com, electronics retailer Newegg and home goods company Wayfair. The state conceded in court, however, that it could only win by persuading the Supreme Court to do away with its physical presence rule.

The Trump administration had urged the justices to side with South Dakota.

The case is South Dakota v. Wayfair, 17-494.
All of your online shopping just got much more expensive.
Extra magazines, parts, accessories, ammo, you name it...

My own FFL had decried the unfairness of online retailers not charging the sales tax he had to, and I hear his lamentations. He's not incorrect, nor can he blame the consumer. The wrong way to level the playing field is to tax the consumer more, seeing as how we retain income taxes, use taxes, licensing fees, property taxes, etc (why list the 100 when one can link it) ...

Economic freedom regarding your RKBA took a hit today. Approximately 6% less sales for the RKBA economy.

Don't want a point to be missed here: The largely "law-abiding" public disobeyed / ignored / disregarded the law in many states requiring them to pay sales tax on interstate sales. Mass non-compliance (be it unwitting or knowingly) led to this ruling. The Federal response is to allow the States to turn the screws in even further on the people.

Re: All the things got more expensive

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:46 am
by qmti
I'm just speculating, but I think that a lot of small businesses will stop/be hurt with their online business. With the different sales tax rates in each state the little guy won't be able to get his hands around the tax he needs to charge and the bookkeeping associated with it. I'm sure some software program is out there if he wants to pay for it. This is a windfall for the states. They will bring in millions of dollars in revenue but will squander it on unnecessary programs. The liberal democratic states will have a host of "gimme gimme" programs with the new found revenue.

Re: All the things got more expensive

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 1:48 pm
by JediSkipdogg
Qmti, I would agree but I think since alot are using items like Square, then Square will just handle the collection and disbursion.

Re: All the things got more expensive

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 2:28 pm
by qmti
JediSkipdogg wrote:Qmti, I would agree but I think since alot are using items like Square, then Square will just handle the collection and disbursion.
You probably have a good point since your up on things. I've been retired and not up on current processes.

Re: All the things got more expensive

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:20 pm
by Mr. Glock
I thought I’d get ahead of this today. Nope, Brownells is already adding tax.

Re: All the things got more expensive

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:27 pm
by schmieg
JediSkipdogg wrote:Qmti, I would agree but I think since alot are using items like Square, then Square will just handle the collection and disbursion.
A lot are, but a lot aren't. I place a rather large order every couple of years with a pepper place in Tubac, Arizona, because they have the best hot spice sauce I have found for making chile con queso (don't try mine if you have sensitive taste buds). It's a small family operation that has a web presence, but the orders, billing and shipping are all done manually by the parents or the kids. They may have the capability through their credit card processor, but I don't think so.

Of course, credit card processors may end up doing this as part of the the processing services (I'm sure with an increase in the percentage they take).

Re: All the things got more expensive

Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 6:40 am
by Suckerspawn
schmieg wrote:
JediSkipdogg wrote:Qmti, I would agree but I think since alot are using items like Square, then Square will just handle the collection and disbursion.
A lot are, but a lot aren't. I place a rather large order every couple of years with a pepper place in Tubac, Arizona, because they have the best hot spice sauce I have found for making chile con queso (don't try mine if you have sensitive taste buds). It's a small family operation that has a web presence, but the orders, billing and shipping are all done manually by the parents or the kids. They may have the capability through their credit card processor, but I don't think so.

Of course, credit card processors may end up doing this as part of the the processing services (I'm sure with an increase in the percentage they take).
Pepper sauce may be considered food, and not taxed.

Re: All the things got more expensive

Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 9:58 am
by schmieg
Suckerspawn wrote:
schmieg wrote:
JediSkipdogg wrote:Qmti, I would agree but I think since alot are using items like Square, then Square will just handle the collection and disbursion.
A lot are, but a lot aren't. I place a rather large order every couple of years with a pepper place in Tubac, Arizona, because they have the best hot spice sauce I have found for making chile con queso (don't try mine if you have sensitive taste buds). It's a small family operation that has a web presence, but the orders, billing and shipping are all done manually by the parents or the kids. They may have the capability through their credit card processor, but I don't think so.

Of course, credit card processors may end up doing this as part of the the processing services (I'm sure with an increase in the percentage they take).
Pepper sauce may be considered food, and not taxed.
Not in Ohio, but some states do tax food.

Re: All the things got more expensive

Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 5:33 pm
by DOA33
schmieg wrote: Not in Ohio, but some states do tax food.
Yep, that's something I'm trying to get use to since moving from OH to KY. I'm used to going to Little Ceasers and getting a $5 pizza for $5 even. Here in KY it's $5.30. First time it happened I had to search my truck for change. :oops:

Re: All the things got more expensive

Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2018 8:39 pm
by Gramps
DOA33 wrote:
schmieg wrote: Not in Ohio, but some states do tax food.
Yep, that's something I'm trying to get use to since moving from OH to KY. I'm used to going to Little Ceasers and getting a $5 pizza for $5 even. Here in KY it's $5.30. First time it happened I had to search my truck for change. :oops:
I tried one, one time..... WOW it was bad but cheap. One slice, a couple bites and that was all I could stand!

Re: All the things got more expensive

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 9:17 am
by bignflnut
Last week the United States Supreme Court, in the case of South Dakota v. Wayfair, ruled that the Constitution’s Commerce Clause allows state governments to force out-of-state businesses to collect state sales taxes. This decision overturns the court’s precedent that a state could require only businesses with a “physical presence” in the state to comply with state tax laws.

Unless Congress exercises its authority under the Commerce Clause to counter this decision with legislation, retailers will have to calculate sales taxes on every online purchase. An error in calculating sales taxes could cause a small retailer to undergo a costly and time-consuming audit, or even audits by multiple state governments. The compliance costs, along with the sales taxes themselves, will raise the cost of online commerce, burdening consumers and limiting the growth of internet business.

The burdens imposed on online commerce by the court’s decision will fall particularly hard on smaller internet retailers that rely on online sales to stay open. Stifling the growth of smaller and new internet retailers may be bad for consumers, but it serves the interest of large brick-and-mortar retailers, as well as large online retailers that already have to comply with state sales taxes because they have a physical presence in most states. These large businesses support giving states new taxing powers because they wish to use government power to make sure their smaller competitors stay small.

Allowing states to tax internet retailers with no physical presence in their states — and thus limited influence over state legislators — violates the principle of no taxation without representation. Tax- and power-hungry politicians will likely use this new power not just to increase taxes, but to impose other tax and regulatory burdens on out-of-state businesses. Having the power to tax and regulate employers and workers who cannot retaliate at the polls is a dream come true for many politicians. By making almost all online purchases subject to sales taxes, the decision will also reduce pressure on states to keep sales tax rates low.